Hi friends! Back with my five fun things from the past few months. Check out what I’m reading, my latest obsessions, what I’m listening to, watching and where I’m giving below:
What I’m Reading
I’ll recap all the books I read over the past few months. I finished The Two Lives of Lydia Bird on my most recent trip, and I can’t express how much I loved it! It’s a weird premise, and I was unsure of it at first, but the characters pull you in and I was so rooting for them at the end. I can’t think of a book that had me in my feels like this in a long time! I also just finished An Heiress’s Guide to Deception & Desire. It was a great guilty pleasure read. I loved the story, love an old english love interest, but it certainly wasn’t the world’s best writing and is a little flowery. Overall a great vacation read and I’ll definitely be picking up the other books in this series. I recently discovered Sonali Dev and love her books. Pride Prejudice and Other Flavors is about an immigrant Indian American family and focuses on the story of one of the sisters, with a love story involved. I really enjoyed it, but will say I liked Recipe for Persuasion better. WWII historical fiction is my favorite genre, so I really loved The Paris Library. It’s based on the true story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris during World War II; “ode to the importance of libraries, books, and the human connections we find within both”. I tried another Elin Hilderbrand book, The Blue Bistro, and liked it a lot more than the first one I read (Nantucket Nights, wasn’t a fan). It’s about a young girl who comes to Nantucket for a summer job and to escape a bad relationship and gets hired as a manager of an iconic restaurant.. there’s of course a love interest with the owner of the restaurant.
What I’m Loving
Y’all.. it’s Old Navy! I’ve scored some great pieces from them lately. This dress is so good I bought it in two colors and am about to buy it in another color they just released. I also got this tennis skirt and love! The shorts actually stay in place and are longer so they’re really comfortable but it also looks very cute.
What I’m Watching
Dave and I stared Designated Survivor on Netflix and are obsessed to say the least. Like we have considered cancelling social engagements because we want to watch another episode. It’s a few years old, about an attack on the state of the union that leaves essentially the entire federal government dead and a member of the cabinet who was “designated survivor” as president (Kiefer Sutherland). It’s funny because I don’t usually love crime shows or anything too anxiety-inducing, but I love this! The drama and suspense are there so you keep wanting to watch a new episode, but Sutherland’s character is the ultimate “good guy” and always seems to get some kind of a win, so it’s not too dark. I will say it can be infuriating at times and Dave and I think we’re smarter than most of the characters, plus some cheesy moments, but we’re hooked nonetheless. I also saw the new Downton Abbey move and absolutely loved! It was great to see the characters back on screen and definitely lived up to my love of the series. We’re talking about starting the new Lincoln Lawyer show on Netflix, has anyone watched it yet?! We loved the movie from several years back.
What I’m Listening To
Y’all I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, but I’m just not into podcasts anymore! Truly, the only one I’ve listened to lately is Heather McMahan, which always makes me laugh out loud. I’m writing this on a plane and just listened to an episode and could not keep myself from audibly giggling.
Where I’m Giving
Like I’m sure all of you, I was horrified, saddened, infuriated and just all of the emotions about the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde last month. There are not adequate words to express my grief. I know gun control can be a hot topic, but I just can’t see how we cannot come together to find a way forward. I believe that we can respect and uphold the second amendment while also putting measures together to stop tragedies like this occurring. I called my senators and used this script from Jamie Golden. I also donated to Everytown for Gun Safety and the GoFundMe for the Garcia children, who tragically lost their mother in the shooting and then their father from a heart attack a few days later. I intend to give to the Robb School Memorial Fund that has been set up by a local bank, you can donate via check or Zelle. I also gave to the Buffalo Community Fridge, which is no longer taking donations, but directing people to donate to Feed More WNY.
I know your hearts are heavy and just wanted to say I’m sending everyone love. I also want to encourage those who are feeling helpless to channel that feeling into action. While we individually may not be able to make large change, we can come together to influence those who have the power to do so. I also want to challenge you to think about how you could invest in your local community and children’s lives. You do have the power to radically change one person’s life and that could make all the difference. You can volunteer at local schools, churches, mentorship programs and community centers. You can donate to similar programs, provide food for school backpack programs etc. I volunteer with my church’s youth program and give monthly to our local YMCA’s Black Achievers program. Those who seek evil want us to feel like there’s nothing we can do to stop it, but it’s simply not true.
All my love!
Biscuits & blessings,
Leels
